Muammar Faysal Khouli *
Translated by : mudhaffar al-kusairi
The Turkish elections in general, and the “local” municipalities in particular, prior to the arrival of the AK Party in November 2002, have received considerable attention from the majority of Arab, European and international countries, because the political system in Turkey before that date was subject to the hegemony of the Turkish military institution, and thus almost results of those elections are already predetermined.
However, this changed after that date, through the constitutional amendments introduced by the successive governments of the Justice and Development Party on the Turkish constitution, to limit the powers of the military establishment, and the abolition of its guardianship over the political system in Turkey, an active political community has become active in it , and the election entitlement has become a legal and political value, and the Turkish citizen has also played a major role in making the difference in the results of that entitlement, which in itself is an achievement for the emerging Turkish democracy.
It is noteworthy that the importance of elections in Turkey has increased because of the foreign policy interactions pursued by the successive governments of the AKP with the Arab, regional and international issues, as its positions towards these issues have not always been consistently settled by some regional and international countries, on the contrary, there were stations of tension, crisis, competition and conflict with those countries, thus , , the Turkish elections “municipal, parliamentary and presidential” became preoccupied with the thinking of Arab, European and international circles, in addition to the interest of political analysis in these elections .
And in line with the conviction prevailed in the Turkish political community that “who governs Istanbul ruled Turkey.” The Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate, Akram Emamoglu, won 54% in the re-election of Istanbul against his main rival , Ben Ali Yildirim, candidate of (AKP) who won 45% of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), and in a sign that the ruling party has accepted this result , President of the Republic Recep Tayyip Erdoğan did not delay congratulating Imam Oglu, stressing that “the national will was demonstrated again today, and I hope that the results of Istanbul municipal elections will be good for the city.” Yildirim also congratulated his winning opponent, pledging to help the new mayor in everything that serves the interests of the city.
Although the Justice and Development Party (AKP) scored more than 51% of the results of the elections, it was considered the first defeat of the Justice and Development Party after losing the presidency of Istanbul and Ankara, the most important traditional strongholds of the party. This loss was a pleasant surprise to the party’s opponents at home and abroad, as it may be a prelude to further losses in the upcoming electoral entitlements which will keep it away from the rule of constitutional authorities in Turkey.
But some have not realized that the acceptance of the ruling party, which is in control of the joints of the political system in its government, is a victory for the Turkish democratic experience. As it not possible for the Justice Party to forge the elections to serve its candidates? However, he did not do it, because its internal objective is to strengthen the Turkish experience, and outside its maturity, a message addressed to the international community in general, and the European Union in particular, that the ruling party in Turkey respects the election results even if it is contrary to what it aspires to, and this is the ABCs of democratic governance.
In addition, the AKP’s acceptance of this outcome is in itself an opportunity for it to review its policies and identify the reasons for the decline, to deal with it in preparation for the forthcoming electoral entitlements, which its settlement may not be easy for the party.
This opportunity and review is a service provided by the democratic system of governance to each of the political parties to renew their internal and external policies and visions, and for citizens to test the extent of the correctness of their choice of this or that party. In the end, if we want to put a prominent title for the results of the municipal elections in Turkey, we will write, “In Turkey, all winners.”
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies